On Christmas Eve 2011, the first mini YEP meeting in Hong Kong began at 9am at Hong Kong station. It was a packed day ahead: in light of the Food Green Wave, we wanted to combine our Urban Raid with campaigning against shark fin soup. We enlisted the help of Shark Savers Hong Kong to obtain pledge cards and flyers, and requested for a shark costume from the Hong Kong Shark Foundation. We intended to grab people’s attention on the busy streets of Hong Kong in the shark costume, and get them to sign pledge cards to campaign against shark fin soup.

Upon meeting at 9am, we were immediately faced with our first challenge of the day: we were told by the Hong Kong Shark Foundation earlier that morning that the shark costume was not in the right condition for our use. Despite this major setback, we decided to do up placards for the same purpose anyway, and carry these placards on our Urban Raid. We spent some time doing up these placards: campaigning against shark fin soup on one side; promoting the Young Explorers Program on the other.

At around 11am, we set off on our Urban Raid – we were going to cover most of the busiest parts of Hong Kong on foot. The first checkpoint was the Dried Seafood Market. Shark fins could be found in almost every shop in this district – there were even billboards on the main street promoting shark fin soup!

On our way to the next checkpoint (Statue Square in Central), we passed through the Bird’s Nest and Ginseng (other Chinese delicacies) district, Wing Lok Street. We decided to stay on Wing Lok Street in particular and by splitting up on either side of the road, we counted the number of stores which sold shark fins. On this street alone, there were a total of 30 stores selling shark fin – and they weren’t even part of the Dried Seafood Market!

We spent the rest of the day talking to both tourists and locals about the Young Explorers Program and got them to sign the pledge cards. Other checkpoints we passed through were the Hong Kong Park, Southorn Park in Wan Chai and Causeway Bay. We ended our Urban Raid at Tsim Sha Tsui by taking the ferry across the harbor from Wan Chai ferry terminal. There were hordes of people at Tsim Sha Tsui, both tourists and locals, who were there to celebrate the coming of Christmas.

While the first Hong Kong YEP meeting was a small affair this time, we have come up with ideas and plans for future meetings! With the focus being in the city this time, we look forward to shifting the focus to the prevalent nature in the region, possibly by organizing a hike/trek on one of the mountains or on one of the outlying islands. This YEP meeting served as a stepping stone for future meetings and events, and we certainly look forward to getting more Asian YEPs to join us in the future!

• Date: 24 December 2011
• Location: Hong Kong
  
• YEPs involved: Gregory Antono, Romeo Wong